Former Cong bigwig Narhari Amin to join BJP?

Ahmedabad: Congress heavyweight in Gujarat, Narhari Amin, who quit Congress after being refused party ticket to contest assembly polls, may join the state's ruling BJP, sources said today.

Amin, who wields a sizable clout in Patel community, will be a prize catch for BJP, given the challenge it is facing in Saurashtra region where former chief minister and Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) president Keshubhai Patel has come out all-guns-blazing against Narendra Modi government.

Narhari Amin. AFP.

Amin resigned from the party yesterday along with his six supporters. "Another 175 of his supporters have also resigned from primary membership of the party," Amin's supporter Hitesh Patel said, adding they are in talks with BJP for joining that party but nothing has been finalised so far.

Amin, an influential Patel community leader with a sizable fan following, was not given nomination for the coming assembly polls on the ground that he had lost two consecutive electoral battles. The former president of Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) held a show of strength two days ago by organising a meeting of his supporters on the outskirts of the city and attacked the Congress high command and PCC leaders for denying tickets to "worthy" candidates.

The meeting was attended by senior Congress leaders of the state besides former city mayor Himmatsinh Patel, Naresh Raval and Rekha Chaudhry among others. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajiv Shukla had met sulking Amin on Saturday and there were rumours that the latter was being offered either a BCCI post or a Rajya Sabha berth.